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When it comes to
reality television, not everyone comes off as a good guy. Jeremy May is finding
that out the hard way.
May is one of 16 fighters
on the current season of “The Ultimate Fighter” show, which airs Wednesdays at
10 p.m. on Spike TV. Only a few weeks
into the show, he has already been labeled as outspoken and obnoxious.
“I don’t think I’m
obnoxious in a bad way,” May said. “I like to have fun. My idea for fun may not
be the same for other people.”
The labeling of May’s
personality began on the second episode of the season when May, like all of the
other participants, had to fight to become a permanent member of the show. He had to fight Dave Roberts.
And one of the two trainers for fighters in the show, reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, is a friend of Roberts. Let the games begin.
“It
was intimidating going into that fight because I had Rampage come up to me and
say that’s my best friend and you’re not going to beat him,” says May. “I said,
‘If I beat your boy, will you pick me to be on your team.’ He said ‘Yeah,’ because
it would be the honorable thing to do.”
Both May and
Jackson did their part.
May beat Roberts, winning the fight by submission in the first round. And
Jackson picking May to be
part of his team.
May is now competing with
15 other fighters for the right to win a contract with UFC. The rub was that
all the fighters knew one another well; they lived and trained together in
Las Vegas for six weeks in
preparation for the show.
All in all, the show
is a great opportunity for May, who grew up in
Ocala and now trains at the USA Martial Arts
school there. He discovered fighting while he was a cheerleader on a
competitive team.
Then his older
brother took him to a Jiu-Jitsu tournament in
Ocala. May thought he could pick it up, and
he started training. Three months later,
May had his first amateur mixed martial arts fight. He won by knockout, and he
was hooked.
Professionally, May
has a 6-5 record — respectable — but he has ambitions for more. In fact, he
believes his fighting style, which he calls “Jeremy-Jitsu,” will get him there.
“It’s a combination
of whatever it takes to beat you,” May said of his style. “I have been known to
get a triangle, loosen it up and try to cut someone open with blows or get an
arm bar and loosen it up and landing hammer fists. I think that a TKO looks a
lot better on a record than a tap-out.”
Anyone who has ever
watched “The Ultimate Fighter” knows it can be a wild time for the fighters.
They have to live together in a nice home but are allowed none of the comforts
of regular life. That means no
television, no Internet, no phones and no access to the outside world.
So for 16 young,
testosterone-filled fighters all competing for the same contract, things can
quickly get out of control.
“It’s definitely a
crazy situation,” May said. “I like to play around and have a good time, but
not everyone is like that, and it kind of gets under other people’s skin. The
first week you’re out there, you just want to rip everyone’s head off anyway.”
As for being
portrayed as the bad guy during the first few weeks of the show, it’s something
that May doesn’t shy away from.
“That might be the
case,” he said. “Some people might have felt that way. I think just as many
people had a problem with me as I had with everyone else. I’m also one of those
people who is not afraid to speak his mind and tell you how I feel. That was
also a problem for a few people.”
That’s May’s reality,
television or not.
E-mail Brian Fritz at
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